UG with Dr. Moorty ( video courtesy: Chandrasekhar Babu)
This write-up revolves around a very interesting excerpt from Dr. Narayana Moorty’s Book on UG, Being Yourself.
The book is a compelling account of Dr.
Moorty’s long association with UG. In his characteristic ‘no-holds-barred’ style,
Dr. Moorty shares some interesting episodes and encounters with his readers. This is a ring side view of the sage from an accomplished scholar who
straddled both the Eastern and Western philosophies.
UG and Dr. Moorty shared many common
interests and remained buddies for decades till the very end. UG personally paid for the First Class round-trip ticket from US to Italy to have Dr.
Moorty visit him during his last days.
I admire the sheer guts of this
nonchalant professor.
Seems once UG and Dr. Moorty set out on a
wandering spree and ended up in a way side inn with a kitchenette. Between friends, they wanted to
hammer out a deal as to who should pay the bill, and who should cook. UG was
magnanimous and let Dr. Moorty take the call. Guess what – without batting an
eyelid, Dr. Moorty gleefully offered to pay up the rent and enjoy the stay, while UG ended up in the kitchen cooking for both of them, for the rest of
their stay!
****
Here is the excerpt from Dr. Moorty’s
book:
“Another morning, UG was talking away and
was trying rather unsuccessfully to remember a Sanskrit verse about Vedantins,
Naiyayikas, Bauddhas and other philosophers. I told UG that it was possible to
get the exact text of the verse from the Internet. He said “Do it!” I went into
the anteroom and fished for the verse on the Internet. It didn’t take long. I
copied it in the Devanagari script and showed it to him. He said he would be
more comfortable reading it in the Telugu script. So I wrote it in the Telugu
script on another sheet of paper and he was able to read it with ease.”
(Source: Being Yourself:
Essays on UG Krishnamurti and Related Topics, Kindle Edition.)
This was really interesting ! After reading this, I promptly got in touch with the ever reliable and resourceful Chandrasekhar Babu for more details . The
meticulous and kind Babu dug into his archives and shared with me not just the verse, but even the video clip that
showed UG and Dr. Moorty engaged in conversation about the very verse. Babu even sang the verse for me in his melodious voice. Seems this was a personal favourite of UG!
The verse bears a special significance in
light of the sombre settings of the scene. These were UG’s final hours in the
physical realm.
(Image Courtesy:
Chandrasekhar Babu)
The verse is self-explanatory. It is supposed to be inscribed on a stone tablet (dated 1380 A.D.) in the world-renowned temple of
Belur in Karnataka. The author of the verse is Udayanacharya, a 10th
century scholar and logician of Naiyyayika school of Reasoning.
Here below is the most ancient source for the idea of the inscription, from the Vasishta Gita of sage Valmiki.
The verse attempts to reconcile the essence
of all religions and doctrines, just in three short pithy lines. It boldly
proclaims that there is one Cosmic Spirit that is
animating the entire creation and that its votaries call it by
various names.
Chandrasekhar Babu pointed out that Dr. Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan, Ex-President of India, a good friend of UG, had at some point improvised
the same verse to append a line that brought into fold the other two names - Christ and Allah.
“Kraistvah Kristuriti kriyapararatah
Alleti Mahammadah Soyam”
(“Whom the Christians devoted to work as
Christ and the Mohammedans as Allah.”)
UG’s choice of verses is truly amazing! He had a ready stock of Sanskrit quotes in
his repertoire and could easily handpick any verse from any source, in a flash.
He enjoyed a profound understanding of all the major religions and doctrines.
He was well-clued in Vedas, Vedanta (Upanishads), Buddhism (he especially liked
the Chan Buddhism), Taoism, Eastern and Western philosophies as well as
psychology.
****
In the early ‘70s, in the years that followed
his Calamity, UG is known to have interacted with many pundits, scholars,
intellectuals, many who were well versed in Vedas and Vedanta (Upanishads).
UG met Dr. K B Ramakrishna Rao, the Principal
of Sanskrit College in Sringeri (North Karnataka) who later moved over to
Mysore as Professor of Philosophy in Manasa Gangotri, University of Mysore. He
was an accomplished scholar in Advaita philosophy. UG regularly visited his
home in Mysore for several years till Dr. Rao’s death in the late ‘80s.
Dr. Rao created the first UG portal in
Mysore and introduced UG to many of his learned friends. UG met up with many luminaries
of the time there.
Also, Dr. Rao personally held many
discussions with UG on Upanishads or Vedanta, the distilled wisdom of the
Vedas, the crest-jewel of Oriental teaching. These interactions with UG seemed
to have inspired his own book on the Bhagvad Gita. Also Dr. Rao penned the first ever
biography of UG ( Illi Vaadavilla, Iruvudella Veda - ಇಲ್ಲಿ ವಾದವಿಲ್ಲ, ಇರುವುದೆಲ್ಲ ವೇದ ), a short introductory book in Kannada.
This was the same period when UG came in touch with another friend, Brahmachari Sivarama Sharma, a great scholar, also well versed in Vedanta and a close associate of Dr. Rao.
At the time,
Brahmachari was getting groomed to take over as the pontiff of Kudli Mutt, as
its successor. Kudli Mutt is a spiritual centre in Shimoga that owes its
allegiance to Adi Shankaracharya of the seventh century, the proponent of
Advaita doctrine or Monism.
UG immediately saw a threat to his
friend’s life and prevented Brahmachari from getting embroiled in the ‘politics
of spirituality’ and weaned him away from his pursuit and let him lead a
peaceful and contented life.
While in Udupi, UG briefly interacted
with another great scholar Bannanje Govindacharya, an expert in the Vedas and
Indian philosophy, a scholar of great repute and renown. During this meeting, UG
and Bannanje seemed to have exchanged their notes in Sanskrit!
****
Coming back to the verse, it is
interesting to note UG’s recollection of the verse at a time when he was nearing the end of his earthly sojourn!
What makes this verse and its timing
significant is the fact that it is a pointer to UG’s position on God!
Did UG ever consent to the idea of a
personal God or Godhead?
Never! There was not even a slightest hint about his stance on Personal God anywhere in his innumerable talks and
discussions. Rather, he was always seen ridiculing and blasting gods and
goddesses, and calling names.
Obviously, UG could not bring himself to reconcile
to the ‘idea of a Personal God’. According to him the ‘idea of God’ is born in a
mind that is infested with fear.
“It is the mind that has created God, out
of fear!”
The weak, fearful and greedy minds have a
need for God and therefore invent one!
Devoid of 'self' or 'ego', the sage does not suffer from separation or division from rest of creation. Life is just one boundless ocean of energy for the sage, everything is his, he is everything and therefore there is nothing to seek,
nothing to fear.
The sage is just the pulsing of Life
Energy! Sage and Life are not two separate things!
This is not some far-fetched theory, but a
living reality that we see operating in the life of sages.
A sagely life validates the universal truth that “Life is
undivided organic whole!”
World has seen great sages and seers, many unsung, unknown teachers ‘whose footprints have been lost in the sands of time’, from every ancient land. Whether from Africa, Egypt, the Middle East (the cradle of the three Abrahamic religions), India or China. all the sages spoke in unison and proclaimed the truth about the ‘Unity of Life’!
On numerous occasions UG pointed out, “There is no one here. UG comes and goes whenever there is a demand!”
On numerous occasions UG pointed out, “There is no one here. UG comes and goes whenever there is a demand!”
Again, “It never occurs to me that you are different from
me.”
Our minds were confounded and then UG explicated his situation with the beautiful
analogy of the circle.
Wherever there is a 'centre', the circle is limited and bound by its circumference. In other words, it is the 'centre' that
defines the circumference and limits the circle. In the absence of the 'centre', there
is no more circumference, and the circle just explodes into infinity.
UG explained that, in our case, it is the ‘self’ or ‘ego’ that forms the centre. It is this centre that imposes serious limitation and defines the bounds of life energy.
Without this centre, Life is boundless and infinite, encompassing everything
in the universe.
Sages seem to operate in this boundless,
limitless field of Life energy.
UG referred to this limitless energy field in his talks as 'Intelligence' or 'Life Energy' just to keep matters simple and uncomplicated.
****
There are countless anecdotes where UG ‘encompassed
and became’ the person he was watching….In Casino de Paris, he couldn’t tell
whether he was the dancer or there was some other dancer on the stage!
Dr. Sreedhav narrates another anecdote in
Major’s farm house in Bangalore, when UG refused to use the toilet for three consecutive
days. He had discovered a lizard in the commode that stubbornly refused to leave
its new abode. UG could never bring himself to flush away the poor creature,
how could he ever do that to himself?
Dr. Moorty recollects yet another incident.
Once UG and himself were sitting in a hotel lobby waiting for their turn to check in. UG, for some reason, appeared extremely agitated and in intense pain. It turned out that he was fixated on the front desk where a young girl was struggling to cope with her multiple roles as a receptionist, telephone operator, manager, and concierge loading, unloading heavy luggage pieces for guests. The extreme stress levels of the girl, as she laboured on and struggled, to cope up with her gruelling work, began to manifest in UG!
Once UG and himself were sitting in a hotel lobby waiting for their turn to check in. UG, for some reason, appeared extremely agitated and in intense pain. It turned out that he was fixated on the front desk where a young girl was struggling to cope with her multiple roles as a receptionist, telephone operator, manager, and concierge loading, unloading heavy luggage pieces for guests. The extreme stress levels of the girl, as she laboured on and struggled, to cope up with her gruelling work, began to manifest in UG!
In UG's life, we see the practical
demonstration of the universal truth about “The
Unity of Life”
If there is a singular message that keeps
reverberating time and again, in the ancient wisdom of the Vedanta or
Upanishads, in the spirited discussions and debates that resounded in the serene
forest universities of eminent sages, or in the discourses held in spectacular
courtyards of India’s greatest emperors and kings, it is this plain truth– ‘Universe is an organic whole’! This is the essence of Vedanta, Brahma is that organic whole!
Short of acknowledging God, UG
took a much more rational, sensible and realistic position, “God
is irrelevant!” while re-emphasising the Unity of Life!
****
Here is the audio clip carrying the melodious rendering of the verse sung by Jesudas in the Kannada movie Malaya Maruta.
Here is the audio clip carrying the melodious rendering of the verse sung by Jesudas in the Kannada movie Malaya Maruta.
